Each week, our German correspondent slices and dices the latest rumblings, news, and quick-hit driving impressions from the other side of the pond. His byline may say Jens Meiners, but we simply call him . . . the Continental.

Flipping through my notepad from last week’s Paris auto show, I couldn’t make out a consistent theme. More electric concepts, a lot of matte paint, and few surprises—most of them from the Volkswagen group, which does a great job keeping a lid on its new cars and concepts. I drove by car, past the old racetrack in Reims on the way over, and back late on the second press day, as the stands were cordoned off for customer events.

Mercedes: Another Nissan Smart, A- and B-class Body Styles, and an Aluminum SL

On the night before the show, Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche delivered a funny and cool speech on the role of the automobile, which is turning 125 next January. Zetsche declared January 29 the “Day of the Automobile.” His optimistic outlook: The world will move from 900 million cars in 2010 to 1.8 billion cars in 2035. Way to go!

Later that evening, I spoke with Mercedes engineers about the upcoming cooperation between Renault-Nissan and Smart. The next four-door Smart will be developed jointly with the Franco-Japanese company, and is not to be confused with the rebadged Nissan that will be sold only in the U.S. starting next fall. Will Daimler go easy on production and durability standards for the jointly developed model? The answers were not very clear: Renault-Nissan will have to raise its standards, but Smart will “adjust” where Daimler’s were found to be “excessive.” Which Daimler standards are excessive? I did not get an answer to that question. But I was told that the work with French and Japanese engineers is more rewarding than working with Chrysler: “These guys speak our language, technology-wise.”

The next A- and B-classes will come with a total of four body styles. One of them could be a crossover, another will likely be a more conventionally styled sedan designed to bridge the gap to the C-class. I am not convinced such a lightweight, cost-efficient car will do justice to Mercedes heritage, but the promised turbo engines and a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission (instead of the current CVT, which dies) sound fun.

I hear that the next-gen Mercedes-Benz SL-class will have a fully aluminum body. And the smaller SLK will be available with the same 2.1-liter diesel engine that is available now in anything from the Sprinter commercial van to the S-class. Mercedes, by the way, is now officially talking about the new SLK’s Magic Sky Control roof.

What’s Lotus On About?

Few could make much of Lotus’s boastful display of six future production cars, some of which were kind of hard to tell apart from each other. Cool, yes, but now that the beans are spilled, what is Lotus going to entertain us with for the next five years? I must admit that I found the name “Eterne” to be rather fitting for the upcoming Panamera/Rapide wannabe from Hethel. It will, after all, be an eternity before it hits the market . . .

VW has taken the engineering lead on a mid-engine sports car that was previewed with the Volkswagen BlueSport, the Audi e-tron from Detroit, and the e-tron Spyder just shown in Paris. Ulrich Hackenberg’s engineering team is shooting for a 2014 launch. The car could be produced in the Karmann plant in Osnabrück, Germany. VW, Audi, and Porsche are on board—and it’s really happening.

The actual weight of the Lamborghini Sesto Elemento is not the 2200 pounds claimed by the press materials, but it’s actually less: a mere 2030 pounds sans fluids. Whoa! But you couldn’t get it legal for the street like this yet, and the car is more a sign of what’s coming from the Italian marque than a look at any specific model.

The Sesto Elemento, in my opinion, ties with the Audi Quattro concept for coolest concept in Paris. But unlike the Lambo, the A5-based Quattro concept actually has a good chance to be built. Audi chief Rupert Stadler wants to do a few hundred, at a price point of around €100,000.

I found it interesting that “e-tron,” Audi’s moniker for two fully electric concept cars, has been stretched to encompass a diesel-hybrid concept. Is this a sign of dissociation from the fully electric pipe dream? Anyway, Audi will fulfill its promise and still do a small batch of its R8-based e-trons with electric motors only. But other e-trons will be equipped with internal-combustion range-extender engines. Having these range extenders on board will allow Audi to keep batteries small, for a range of around 30 miles. Clever.

Renault: The French Electrical Connection

And here’s a really clever way to preserve battery range: Rumor has it that the fully electric Renault Kangoo Z.E. vehicles used by the eco-image-conscious French postal service are equipped with auxiliary petrol heaters. Chapeau!

We’ve known about Mini’s plans to compete in the 2011 World Rally Championship with a Countryman-based rally car since late July. And at the Paris show we got our first look at the car, as well a few more details. As expected, the Countryman WRC Concept uses a turbocharged 1.6-liter four and permanent four-wheel drive to get moving. The engine will be built by BMW Motorsport. The rest of the car is built and prepped by Prodrive, the highly respected motorsports company run by David Richards. The WRC Countryman will run select events in 2011 and then a full season in 2012.

On the exterior, the Countryman WRC Concept has the requisite giant rear wing and roof-mounted cabin vent. Other touches, such as exhaust pipes that exit though the bumper, a vented hood, and a giant front aerodynamic splitter, give the Mini a very serious look. All four doors work, but since the interior is completely stripped there are no rear seats. In front the WRC Concept actually stays fairly true to the styling of the production Countryman. The multifunction racing display sits in the center circle where you normally find a speedometer, and a small tachometer is located on the steering column. This being a race car, both are wrapped in carbon fiber.

As we mentioned before, the Mini race car will undoubtedly spawn some sort of WRC-styled special edition in the future. But if you want the real deal and are fabulously rich, we have good news for you because Mini will sell the Countryman WRC to privateer racers starting in 2011.

If you were lucky at this year’s Paris auto show, you might have caught one of the young nymphs and lads circulating through the halls bearing bags of small car models advertising the late-afternoon Lotus press conference on Day One. Supplies were limited and quickly exhausted.

If you were very, very lucky, you might have caught all four waves of nymphs and lads while they still had stock, and assembled the entire collection of exquisite, 1:64-scale models representing four generations of Lotus Esprits, including the concept Esprit unveiled on the Lotus stand that day.

Lean years in the auto industry have meant a shortage of good giveaways at the international auto shows. For example, food has been growing more scarce as budgets are cut, causing the show and its ever-growing horde of journalists that jostle for each free crumpet and Champaign flagon to resemble a Sudanese refugee camp. It wasn’t always this way. I remember when Ford gave away something like a thousand 1:18-scale Ford Thunderbirds and a small number of special-edition 1:43-scale Neiman Marcus T-birds in metal boxes at the Detroit show for the launch of that car’s last rendition.

And for months following the Detroit show in which Chrysler gave away a three-model boxed set of custom PT Cruisers, they were trading on eBay for hundreds of dollars. As of this writing, the 2010 Paris Esprit collection has yet to make it to eBay. If you’re an Esprit fan, it’s a must-have.

The first model handed out was a white S1 identical to Roger Moore’s pre-submersed Esprit in The Spy Who Loved Me. The box reads “One name worth waiting for” and specifies the date (Sept. 30, 2010), time (16:45 military time) and location (Hall 5.1 of the Paris exposition center) of the Lotus press conference.

The second model was a red, third-generation Esprit Turbo, with the words “One name you don’t want to miss…” on the box, plus the same info.

The third model is of a yellow Esprit V-8 GT, with the words “One name you want to see again.”

The fourth box was empty and marked “Missing something? Complete your collection at the Lotus stand at 16:45 CET.” It also read, “One place you need to be…” and included the same information.

The fifth box, handed out at the press conference itself, had the 2014 Esprit concept and the words “One car you’ll want to talk about.”

Nissan calls the Townpod concept a passenger car with the practicality of a light commercial van. The company’s chief designer Shiro Nakamura says the ‘pod is a pure concept, hinting at how the Cube could further evolve in the future. It features suicide doors and a split tailgate, as well as a rear seat that folds and slides into the front chairs to maximize load space. It’s a tall vehicle, capable of swallowing a lot of cargo.

The interior is simple and clean. There are conventional column stalks, but there are no other switches on the dash. A joystick is set into the right-hand side of the driver’s seat to select forward and reverse motion. All other vehicle functions are accessed by two central digital screens. Small rubber balls called “pucks” that have a wide groove cut into them slot into troughs in the dashboard, doors, and center console and are seen as mobile cup holders or cell-phone rests.

Externally, the ‘pod appears to be from the urban battle-cruiser school of Japanese design—Nissan says the proportions hark back to rat rods of the 1950s, but that’s only the case if you’ve been doing hallucinogenic drugs—with a minimal greenhouse and massive slab sides. The pod-style headlamps are quite cool, however, and fitting with the pod theme.

The vehicle wears an EV badge on the side, indicating just how serious the company is about extending its range of electric vehicles beyond the Leaf. Will we see this vehicle make it? Unlikely, but a next-gen Cube, which is essentially a more spacious version of Nissan’s compact cars, would be a natch for electrification.

Tucked out of sight to most showgoers around the back of Nissan’s Paris-show stand was a white GT-R that looked familiar, but somehow different. That’s because it was the much-rumored mid-cycle freshening of Nissan’s hairiest car. We started talking to a PR rep for the firm and he was more evasive than a White House flack when the questioning got tricky.

So here’s what we gleaned. The GT-R gets some minor exterior changes, most notably a revised front bumper and grille, LED daytime running lights, a very shiny (optional) white paint job, and a bigger rear diffuser with enormous exhaust tips. The car we saw had a carbon-fiber rear spoiler, but that could be off a Spec V Japanese-market edition. Sexy new Rays wheels carry 255/40R20 front and 285/35R20 rear Bridgestones.

Mechanically, we know that the GT-R will get a slight power bump, certainly over the magic 500 PS number—or up to 493 hp in real, American terms. The suspension has been recalibrated, with new shocks and springs and thicker anti-roll bars, while there are supposedly dashboard supports to stiffen the body and a new strut brace made from carbon fiber and aluminum. The front brakes are slightly larger and the stability-control system has been retuned.

Inside, the GT-R we saw had a really tony quilted leather treatment, reputedly an M-spec high-grade trim that is a significant price bump over the standard GT-R. However Nissan decides to package this fancy leather, we wish that Chevy could come up with something as gorgeous on the Corvette.

This revised GT-R will go into production late this year in Japan, but won’t go on sale in the U.S. until well into 2011, making it a 2012 model.

Even in an eco-conscious world, there will always be something super to drive.

If there were any doubt that supercars would survive in the face of tightening efficiency regulations and increasingly eco-conscious buyers—yes, at least some of the super-rich give a damn—these cars from the 2010 Paris auto show should put it to rest. The five poster-worthy machines detailed here go above and beyond the usual supercar tropes of ludicrous speed and lustworthy sheetmetal, featuring intensely high-tech powertrains, state-of-the-art materials and construction, or both. But not only are these technological advancements going to keep the supercar species alive, many of the innovations will eventually trickle down to the cars we regular folks buy, too.

The second of two press days has come to a close here in Paris, and with that, it’s time for me to head home. But not before clearing out a few things from my photo folder.

Yes, this Smart Fortwo is covered in leather.

Now, if you want leather done right, have a look at this Continental GTC Series 51. The stunning exterior hue is matched by an equally exquisite leather-lined passenger compartment, with accents that precisely match the paint and a kiddie seat trimmed in the same hide.

Venturi brought this Antarctica snow cat from the future. It’s part of the company’s self-declared mission to spread electric vehicles across the world, with one vehicle intended for a task on each continent. When it arrives at the Princess Elisabeth Station, it will supposedly be the first EV in Antarctica. Charging juice will come primarily from wind generators, and there are solar cells on the roof to keep it moving. Top speed is 25 mph. I want one.

Audi had a slab of pavement sectioned off outside one of the halls for this A1 thrill ride. Drivers take showgoers up onto a super-sized curb and then perform a reverse J-turn on some damp pavement. I guess that proves the car’s fun or something, although I think anything with decent ground clearance and steering of some sort could perform these tasks. It puts butts in seats, though.

When the 2010 Paris Mondial de l’Automobile guide book told me that Pavilion 7 was for second-hand cars, I didn’t know quite what to expect. An F-150 SVT Raptor certainly wasn’t on my list. Among the vehicles jammed into this indoor used-car lot were a bunch from a company that imports big American stuff to France and sells them at a nice markup. This explains why I see a Dodge Ram every time I come to Europe—or at least how they get here, since a pickup on the Continent makes about as much sense as a Smart in the States.

So this year’s Paris auto show happens to coincide with the city’s fashion week, which provides a perfect segue into the topic of automotive fashions. Here I go.

Matte is the new black, apparently. After about an hour wandering the show floor, it became clear to me that the Europeans like their no-gloss paints. U.S. availability of matte finishes has been limited so far—the BMW M3 Frozen Gray is one of a few examples—although many of the high-end automakers will spray your car dull for extra cost. Below are some of the hues that caught my eye.

Not only does this Maserati GranTurismo wear a beautiful satin-blue paint job, it’s also outfitted with carbon-fiber door handles and mirror caps (awesome) and a carbon-fiber steering wheel (awesome to look at, likely less so in use).

This may have the Frozen Gray M3 beat. It works especially well with the carbon-fiber roof, but I’d probably do some dark-painted wheels for extra menace, either glossy or matte, I’m not picky.

Carface gets bonus points for painting this Bentley Continental GT matte brown. Which balances out the demerit that results from the company’s unfortunate name.

Bentley happens to offer a matte option on the Supersports. And that’s one you can get in the U.S.; all you need is to be obscenely wealthy.

A trio of Mercedes: The matte-brown CLS is another automatic winner, the CL63 AMG is imposing with its new front-end tweaks, and the E cabrio gets a pass for not having its dorky AirCap deployed.

You could lose this thing in a dark alley. Or your pocket.

The Lancia across the aisle is somewhat less successful. This one’s called the Hard Black. Cool wheels, but that’s one nerdy package to which they’re affixed.

ADAC, the German auto club and rescue service, brought along this crunched 530d. Oh, and some pensive-looking yellow stormtroopers.

Isuzu no longer sells passenger vehicles in the States, which is a shame because this four-door D-Max is pretty bitchin’. Kind of reminds me of Marty’s Toyota truck in Back to the Future—just don’t let Biff wax this one.

I almost didn’t include this Chevy Spark. First off, the matte black and sparky graphics are a wrap and not paint. Second, as you can see in the close-up to the right (click to enlarge), the fiery mess has Chevy bow ties shooting out of it. So they’re, like, Chevy sparks. Heh. Yeah.

The GT3 hybrid has a cool combo of a matte base with a glossy central stripe. The functional aero bits look great, too.

The R8 GT is coming to the States, and Audi has recently installed paint equipment that will allow it to matte-ize any R8 pigment.